Albion
"The heart of London's celestial empire, illuminated by the greatest feat of British engineering to date: a clockwork sun! While the cream of society enjoy tea in their salons and scandal in their newspapers, the wheels of British industry thunder."[1]
Albion is the British Empire's domain in the High Wilderness.
An Empire Renewed[edit | edit source]
"When Her Majesty entered Albion, she slew the sun with an experimental weapon: an Unclear Bomb. Then she claimed the sun's throne and dominion."[2]
The hub of Albion is New London - good old Fallen London - which has now been transported into space, brick by brick.[3] Empress Victoria rules here from her Throne of Hours, having gained control over time itself.[4] The region is illuminated by the glorious Clockwork Sun, the new King of Hours and the light that keeps the watches ticking.[5]
The hottest commodity on the market is hours, a material form of time; hours are often gifted as rewards for service[6][7] and to the privileged,[8][9] and can be used to significantly prolong one's life.[10] Hours are mined, licensed, and sent to the royal court where Her Renewed Majesty distributes them as she pleases.[11] However, there is also a rapidly growing black market trade in the stuff across the High Wilderness.[12][13][14]
All space that lies beyond Albion is known as the Reach. Albion and the Reach are linked by a transit relay located near the Brabazon Workworld.[15]
Victorian Ideals Taken To Extremes[edit | edit source]
"We stand in the vault of heaven, and we must defend our way of life against the enticements of the new. A thing is not more precious because it is strange. People forget that."[16]
While London's industry is bigger than ever, its society has become notoriously repressive. Those who fall out of the court's favor are thrown into the Midnight Cells, where every minute lasts a day and only the old and decrepit may leave.[17] The poor are put to work in the Brabazon Workworld, where an accelerated flow of time rapidly ages its workers,[18][19] and whose working conditions would make Mr Fires blush.[20][21] Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Decency has become a paragon of xenophobia[22] hellbent on exterminating all literature seen as "un-British;"[23] whatever survives their censorship is inevitably hopelessly dull.[24][25] Considering all of the above, it is little wonder that most revolutionaries and countercultural elements have fled Albion in favor of freer pastures like Eleutheria.
Locations[edit | edit source]
Map[edit | edit source]
Please note that the following is a sample in-game map. Maps are heavily subject to their associated Treachery, so locations may vary.
New London is the capital of Albion and the British Empire. It is the product of an immense effort to rebuild Fallen London in the skies, "brick by brick."
The Clockwork Sun is the artificial star that gives light to Albion. Something is very wrong here.
When London ascended into the High Wilderness, so did its greatest minds. Still known as the Royal Society, they've taken up residence in a desolate part of Albion.
A locomotive taken hostage by its dead passengers.
The House of Chimes was taken to the High Wilderness alongside the rest of London, but was later set adrift.
The Floating Parliament is the British legal entity we all know and might not love. Except it's been lovingly rebuilt brick by brick in space, then set adrift in Albion; no one really pays attention to its laws anymore, as the Empress seems to be quite tired of its authority.
The Brabazon Workworld, called Brabazon for short, is a massive factory complex in Albion. It is mainly involved in the processing of hours, causing its workers to rapidly age during their shifts.
The Well of the Wolf is a sky-well located in Albion. It is a site of pilgrimage for devils.
The Most Serene Mausoleum is the tomb of the Prince Consort. It is also the living quarters of the Deathless, and the terminus of the Necropolis Line. And it's built on top of the dead sun of Albion; what could go wrong here?
The King of Hours was the Regent of the kingdom now known as Albion.
The Avid Horizon is the gate that links the Unterzee to the High Wilderness. It served as London's gateway to the heavens, and has now been sealed.
Worlebury-juxta-Mare is a recreation of the British seaside in the High Wilderness. This quaint little destination is haunted by a variety of strange phenomena.
The jewel of Albion, Perdurance holds the offspring of its most accomplished individuals, who relive a single perfect day for eternity thanks to to a stable supply of hours.
The Birth of Albion[edit | edit source]
"When a murder is committed correctly, only two creatures know what occurred: one is the murdered; the other..." She says no more, but opens one of her thousand plumed hands... A trophy, plucked from the corpse of a star."[26]
At the turn of the 20th century, London allied with the Khanate[27] to breach the Avid Horizon and escape the Neath, and the Bazaar's influence, once and for all.[28] Once the Horizon was crossed, London rebuilt itself in the sky[3] in the space once ruled by the sun of Albion (the King of Hours), while the Khanate settled in Eleutheria and founded Eagle's Empyrean.[29]
According to official records, Queen Victoria conspired with revolutionaries to use an Unclear Bomb to kill the King of Hours. In truth, the bomb was never used.[30] Albion hides the truth for the sake of its reputation, but the true murderer of the King of Hours was the Sapphir'd King, the sun of the Blue Kingdom,[31][32] and the murder took place centuries ago.[33]
In the King of Hours' place, the Empress erected the Clockwork Sun, a renewed artificial star that would make her will the world's law[5] (never mind the detrimental effects on everyone).[34] With her power solidified, London entered a new age of imperialistic fervor and glory, determined to preserve her grip on the skies for all eternity.[35]
References[edit | edit source]
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